ATI Rage 128 fastest 3D technology – Mercury Research

Latest benchmarks show nVidia close behind, but both don't fare so well at 2D work

Mercury Research has released its latest PC graphics acceleration technology benchmark results. The data shows ATI's Rage 128 and nVidia's Riva TNT well ahead of the pack in the 3D world, but older technologies from Matrox and 3Dfx beating them at 2D acceleration. Using the Winbench 99 test suite running on a 450MHz Pentium II-based system, the Rage 128 was, with a score 743, the number one 3D performer, closely followed by the Riva TNT at 669. 3Dfx's Voodoo 2-based Banshee ranked third, with 431 points. S3's Savage3D scored 424 and Matrox's G200 rated 332. However, despite its relatively poor 3D performance, the G200 was the joint number one 2D acceleration technology, with a benchmark of 186 -- 3Dfx's Banshee also scored 186. At number three, the Riva TNT scored 177, closely followed by the Rage 127, with 175. The Savage3D and 3DLabs' Permedia II ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, with scores of 157 and 151. Mercury said all tests were conducted with the latest drivers as of 25 January, and represent the best possible performance under the Windows Hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) standard system set-up rather than the maximum possible performance that can be achieved by tweaking the system. "These results correctly reflect the performance of all hardware testing in this environment under the fairest testing conditions possible," the company said. ® Mercury's full results can be read here